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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26323675">Old Habits Die Hard</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/smckee377/pseuds/smckee377'>smckee377</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Linked Universe - Fandom</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Linked Universe (Legend of Zelda)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-09-06</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-09-06</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 12:15:26</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>5,278</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26323675</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/smckee377/pseuds/smckee377</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>The Links find themselves in Hyrule's version of Hyrule and need to figure out where they are. Much to Warriors' dismay, Hyrule has a mostly blank map and only a vague recollection of the surrounding area. As Warriors attempts to fill in the map, tensions rise and everyone is put on edge as they try to reach a town Hyrule vaguely remembers the direction of.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>81</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>Linked Universe</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. The Blank Map</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Hey…hey!”
</p><p>“Hey, listen!” A muffled thud can be heard. “OW!” Warriors sits up, rubbing his eyes slightly and squinting around the camp. He sees Legend tossing a bedroll back down onto the ground while Time has a small smirk on his face as he walks around to some of the still sleeping Links.
</p><p>“Something going on?” Warriors asks.
</p><p>“We shifted again,” Legend tells him, gesturing around.
</p><p>“That’s never happened while we slept before,” Wild says.
</p><p>“There’s always a first time,” Time throws out as he wakes Wind up gently. The boys begin groggily packing up their camp. It’s still dark, but the dawn has started to brighten the sky. Hyrule keeps frowning at their surroundings and is oddly quiet.
</p><p>“Something wrong, ‘Rule?” Legend asks.
</p><p>“No...I...I think this is my Hyrule,” he replies a bit quietly. Warriors frowns at him slightly.
</p><p>“You don’t recognize your own Hyrule?” Hyrule sticks his tongue out at him.
</p><p>“I do, actually. I just don’t come out this far all that much. I’ll need time to get my bearings,” he says with a firm nod. “Then we’ll be able to keep exploring! I didn’t get to travel too much after I rescued Princess Zelda. With all you guys with me, this will be awesome!” An enormous smile starts to break across his face.
</p><p>“Well, it’s easiest to get your bearings with a map. Do you have one?” Warriors asks as he finishes packing his stuff.
</p><p>“Oh...yeah I do somewhere in here. Didn’t really think I’d need it once I got going.” Hyrule starts unpacking his mostly finished bag, causing Time to gently place a hand to his forehead and close his eyes.
</p><p>“Can you give a general idea of where we are now?” Warriors asks as he looks around. “These seem like any old woods.”
</p><p>“Um...yeah they kind of are. If they’re the woods I think we’re in. There might be a canyon to our south,” Hyrule says, waving vaguely off to the left.
</p><p>“Uh…’Rule? South is that way,” Warriors says, pointing to the right. Hyrule looks up for a second.
</p><p>“Right. Sorry. Then maybe that way is the river? I can’t really remember.” He shrugs, completely nonplussed. Warriors frowns a little more deeply.
</p><p>“You seem very calm for the fact that we’re essentially lost in a strange land.”
</p><p>“It’s not a strange land. I just don’t remember it all yet. AHA!” Triumphantly, he pulls a smashed and crinkled parchment from the depths of his pack and holds it in the air in front of him. “Here’s my old map.” Warriors holds out a hand and Hyrule passes along the parchment.
</p><p>“This...this is practically blank!” Warriors cries in horror.
</p><p>“Give me some credit,” Hyrule says crankily. “It has most of the edges of the kingdom, the castle town, and some woods marked.”
</p><p>“But we need to know exactly where we are! We’re still as good as lost,” Warriors replies angrily.
</p><p>“I just need to get my bearings. Then I’ll know where we are and which direction to go,” Hyrule answers huffily. Warriors is obviously still furious, but starts looking between the map and the area around them.
</p><p>“Do you at least know if there are any caves or anything nearby? Which woods we’re in of these you have marked? Are you sure the canyon is to the south? Or is it north because you got your directions confused?”
</p><p>“War, chill out! I said I’d figure it out and I will.” Hyrule roughly tosses his half repacked bag to the ground and storms off into the treeline. Wild jogs off after him as Time approaches Warriors.
</p><p>“You okay, War?” he asks cautiously.
</p><p>“I’ll be better once we have an idea of where we are. Being lost is not a situation I want to be in again.” He plops to the ground and digs around through the unpacked portion of Hyrule’s bag until he finds writing instruments. He starts making light marks on the map in some of the woods that Hyrule already has marked. Time watches him for a few moments before carefully packing the rest of Hyrule’s bag.
</p><p>The sun starts to peak out from over the tops of the trees by the time Wild and Hyrule come back with enormous smiles on their faces. Hyrule comes over to Warriors immediately and points to one of the woods on the maps. “We’re in this one! And the canyon is over this way and there’s this kind of boggy area over here I think. So the nearest town is that way.” Joyfully, he points in the direction of the town as Warriors takes down some notes.
</p><p>“Tell me everything you remember about the woods that we’re in here,” Warriors says. Hyrule’s smile falters a little.
</p><p>“Uh...I’ll try I guess. It’s been a while since I’ve been up this far,” he replies, sitting down. Wild sets about getting everyone their breakfasts, but Warriors keeps putting off eating his while he interrogates Hyrule about every minute detail of their current location. Much to both of their frustration, Hyrule really doesn’t remember all that much about these woods other than they exist and are sort of close to a canyon and bog. By the time Warriors finally starts eating his breakfast, most of the other Links have already finished.
</p><p>“Everyone ready now?” Time asks the group at large. The Links all nod and pick up their packs. Warriors carefully folds the map and tucks it into his belt before following Hyrule as he leads the group to the east.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. The Map Grows</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The Links spend most of the day wandering vaguely after Hyrule. On more than one occasion, Hyrule has the group double back, circle around, and change direction suddenly before realizing he was going the wrong direction and going a completely different way. Wild doesn’t seem to care at all, but several of the other Links start to get annoyed with all the apparent meandering.<br/>
Finally, the group stops for lunch along a little creek. They all settle down in a circle by the banks and Wild starts getting everyone some food. When he hands Warriors his food, he’s shocked to see the state of Hyrule’s map.<br/>
</p><p>“Have you been marking down everything that we’ve been doing all morning?”<br/>
</p><p>“Of course I have. Someone needs to figure out exactly where we are,” Warriors mutters, accepting the food but placing it on the ground next to the map.<br/>
</p><p>“Warriors, I know where we’re going. It’s fine. We don’t need that map anymore,” Hyrule shrugs.<br/>
</p><p>“Not according to the map you don’t,” Warriors says, pointing to what Wild assumes is the trail they have been following which has a lot of jumbled sections. Hyrule frowns at the map.<br/>
</p><p>“I do. We’re just not going straight there is all. Exploring as we go,” he says a little defensively.<br/>
</p><p>“Mmmm,” Warriors responds, making some other sort of mark on the map. “Do you know how far away this town is approximately? You said you think there’s a river here that feeds into a canyon here. Is this maybe where the town is? Seems like a defensible spot.”<br/>
</p><p>“No. The town is more like over here somewhere I think. I’m sure we’ll find it if we keep heading in this general direction.”<br/>
</p><p>“Are there any other creeks or rivers in these woods, though? You didn’t remember this one. How about gulleys?” Hyrule rolls his eyes, but Warriors doesn’t see because he’s staring so intently down at the map.<br/>
</p><p>“Like I told you before. It’s been a while since I’ve been this far out. I don’t remember minor things like that.”<br/>
</p><p>“Maybe they’ll have a proper map at the town. You should have been filling this in as you went the first time. That would have solved our problem.” Warriors finally folds up the map and starts eating as several of the other Links finish eating and start doing some stretches to ease their walking pains.<br/>
</p><p>“War, I’m sure Hyrule knows what he’s doing. We can trust him,” Wild says, lightly nudging Warriors with his elbow.<br/>
</p><p>“It’s not a trust thing. I know he’s trustworthy. It’s a not being lost thing and he’s currently the only one convinced we’re not lost.” Hyrule opens his mouth to retaliate, but Time puts a hand on his shoulder.<br/>
</p><p>“Hyrule, why don’t you go and scout ahead a little with Wild. Give Warriors some time to finish eating,” Time says firmly. Hyrule springs up and takes off gleefully across the creek with Wild. Time sits down beside Warriors. “I never took you for someone so concerned with maps before.”<br/>
</p><p>“We always had a detailed map before. Hell, even Wild has a great map.”<br/>
</p><p>“That’s fair, but maybe lay off Hyrule a little with all your questions. I know you want to figure things out, but it’s frustrating him to have you question his knowledge of his own homeland. You’d be angry if one of us were so insistent that you don’t know your land as well as you think you do.”<br/>
</p><p>“Of course I would. I’ve memorized the entire map of my Hyrule and I make sure to keep up to date on any major changes.”<br/>
</p><p>“Wait...really?” Twilight asks. “You memorized your whole region map?” Warriors nods.<br/>
</p><p>“That’s...that’s a lot, right? All I had was Skyloft and a couple small areas on the mainland,” Sky chips in.<br/>
</p><p>“Yeah it’s a lot,” Twilight says, slightly in awe. “No wonder you’re so bothered by ‘Rule’s blank map.”<br/>
</p><p>“I mean, I like good items as much as the next Link,” Legend chimes in, “but you need to loosen up a little with Hyrule here. He’s doing well so far.” Warriors finishes his lunch and glances around at all the other Links.<br/>
</p><p>“Fine. I’ll be gentler with my questioning. All we need is one solid landmark, really, and he should be able to guide us better from there,” Warriors relents.<br/>
</p><p>“Guys!” Wild shouts from the other side of the creek. “You ready yet? Come on!” He waves the others over and starts to edge back towards the woods on the opposite bank. “Things are clear over here. Let’s move!” The remaining Links grab their packs and wade across the creek to follow the chipper Wild back to wherever he left Hyrule.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. The War is "Over"</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Several days of wandering pass and Warriors’ agitation has grown immeasurably. By Hyrule’s map, they should have been out of the woods by this point, but the trees seem endless. Despite his intention of being gentle with his questioning, his annoyance has started to bubble to the top every time they stop for camp and he asks Hyrule for updates. Hyrule, in turn, has started to sleep and eat on the opposite side of camp from Warriors and gives short, curt responses to all of Warriors’ questions, furthering Warriors’ agitation. To attempt to keep the peace, Time has started to walk in the back of the group with Warriors while Twilight stays at the front of the group with Hyrule and Wild.
</p><p>“Legend, run up front and have Hyrule find us a place to stop and rest. We set out pretty early this morning,” Time says. Legend jogs off towards the front of the group and Time watches out of the corner of his eye while Warriors pulls out the map and makes a few marks on it before returning it to his belt. “Are you starting to get a better idea of where we are then? You’ve been very focused on your map today.”
</p><p>“We should be out of the woods by now if we were in the ones Hyrule thought we were. So either he drew it wrong or we’re somewhere else entirely and all my landmarks are in the wrong spot,” Warriors says frustratedly.
</p><p>“Well, when we hit this town of his, we can ask around for help filling out the map. Maybe there’s even a cartographer we can buy a proper map from. If I were you, I’d just let the map rest until we get there.”
</p><p>“Yeah? Well you aren’t me, so you can just ignore my map all you want and I’ll do it all myself like I was anyway. Thanks for your input,” Warriors snaps. Time grabs Warriors roughly by the shoulder and spins him around.
</p><p>“Listen, War. I know that you’re upset by this, but you are walking a very thin line right now,” Time whispers threateningly. “You need to pay more attention to the way you act towards the rest of us or--”
</p><p>“We found a cle-- oh...uh…” Wind starts shifting his weight awkwardly. Time immediately takes a step away from Warriors to get out of his face and Warriors straightens up and adjusts his clothes, clearing his throat.
</p><p>“Lead the way then, Wind. I think we’re all in need of some proper rest.” Time glares at Warriors and heads off without him. After a moment of hesitation, Warriors follows. 
</p><p>The three walk a little ways before finding the clearing that Wind mentioned. The other Links are already spread out around it and some have even settled down on a nice patch of grass or against a tree. Warriors takes a seat slightly away from where most of the other Links are gathered and pulls the map back out. Legend notices and looks apprehensively at Hyrule, who seems to very pointedly be ignoring Warriors’ existence. He looks over at Twilight, who simply shrugs his shoulders and continues picking some mud out of one of his boots.
</p><p>“Hey! ‘Rule!” comes Wild’s voice. The group all look around them before noticing one of the trees starting to shake. Suddenly, Wild drops out of the tree and lands a little less gracefully than intended in the middle of the group. “There’s some sort of ruins in a lake just over that way.” Wild points in the direction they had been heading.
</p><p>“Wait, really? Let me see!” Hyrule springs up and starts climbing the tree that Wild had just climbed out of with Wild right on his tail. The remaining Links exchange slightly confused glances, then look back upwards when they hear Hyrule cheering. Shortly after, Wild and Hyrule drift down using Wild’s glider. “He’s right! There are some temple ruins nearby! That’s one of the places where I got part of my triforce!”
</p><p>“So you know where we are now?” Warriors asks, slightly optimistic.
</p><p>“I mean, I knew the whole time where we were, but now I know for sure where the town is! It’s just off that way, south of the ruins,” Hyrule says gleefully, pointing off to their right. Warriors grabs the map and moves over to where Hyrule and Wild are standing. He holds it out in front of him, points to it, and is immediately cut off.
</p><p>“Oh my goddesses, War. What does all this even mean?!” Wild asks incredulously. Hyrule stares, stunned, at the copious notes, paths, X’s, and poorly drawn landscape markers littering the section of the map he had told Warriors they were in.
</p><p>“I’ve been trying to keep track of where we’ve been going, but now that he knows where we are, I’ll have a much easier time refining all my notes to make a cleaner map,” Warriors says a little defensively.
</p><p>“War, come on. We don’t need a map anymore. The town is just over there,” Hyrule says, pushing the map aside.
</p><p>“Hyrule, there are 8 other people in this group who have no idea where we are. We still need a map even if you think you don’t,” Warriors replies, seething.
</p><p>“Oh really? Then why has no one else cared about it but you?” Hyrule spits back.
</p><p>“Maybe because I’m already dealing with the problem for them, but you refuse to help me with it.”
</p><p>“Or maybe because you’re the only one who doesn’t trust me to know my own homeland!”
</p><p>“I do trust you!”
</p><p>“Then shut up about the damn map!”
</p><p>“I need to understand where we are and the map is the way for me to do it!”
</p><p>“WE DON’T NEED A MAP!”
</p><p>“YOU DON’T KNOW WHAT YOU’RE TALKING ABOUT!”
</p><p>“ENOUGH!” Hyrule and Warriors are blown nearly out of the clearing. They right themselves and look back to see Time glaring at them and holding Wind’s korok leaf in one hand. Neither Link picks himself up off the ground and the silence grows. “Clearly,” Time says slowly, “travelling is making us all tired and putting us all on edge.” No one moves. “I think it would be wise if we camped here for the night and took tomorrow as a day of rest. We’ll reach the town the day after and we can stay there for a week to relax. Is that understood.” Everyone nods quickly. Time hands Wind back his korok leaf and stalks off into the woods.
</p><p>“Wild?” Twilight says. Several Links jump, startled at the sound of his voice. “I think you should start getting dinner ready. Sky, you, Warriors, and Legend are due to set up camp. Hyrule, you help me find firewood.” Slowly, they all split up and start doing their respective chores. Time returns to camp after everything is ready and the food is almost cooked. He sits down by the fire and the other Links delicately join him.
</p><p>“Dinner smells good, Wild. And the camp looks good, too,” he says calmly.
</p><p>“Thanks,” Legend and Wild say, a little reassured. Carefully, they strike up conversations as they normally would and help Wild pass around everyone’s share of dinner. Warriors is again sitting slightly away from the group with his map out beside him, out of clear view of the others. Wild takes him some food, but Warriors again puts it aside and makes another mark on the map.
</p><p>“War?”
</p><p>“Mm?”
</p><p>“Why don’t you eat something?”
</p><p>“I will in a minute. Just got to mark a few things before I forget,” Warriors says absentmindedly. “You said that lake with ruins was off to the east, right?”
</p><p>“Warriors, please eat. It’s been a long day and I think everyone’s just starving. It’ll help us all calm down and relax for the night.”
</p><p>“I know, I know. Just give me a minute.”
</p><p>“Can’t you just eat with us all this once?” Wild asks annoyed. Warriors looks at him confused.
</p><p>“What? I eat with you all the time.”
</p><p>“No you don’t. You’re always the last to start and the last to finish. And lately this stupid obsession with the map has made it so that most of us are done by the time you even begin!” Slightly stunned, Warriors puts his hands up.
</p><p>“Whoa, Wild. It’s not that big a deal. I’m still here at meal times with everyone else. I’m still part of it. I just need to fill out Hyrule’s map so we can make better use of it.”
</p><p>Wild stands up furiously and opens his mouth, but before a sound comes out, Hyrule storms over, grabs the map, rips it in half, and throws it on the fire. Warriors screams and scrambles towards the fire. The others watch, stunned at the horror on Warriors’ face. Without hesitation, Warriors reaches into the fire and grabs one of the halves of the map. He pulls it out with a cry of pain and starts trying to put out the fire quickly consuming it. He glances at the fire again, but the other half of the map is almost entirely consumed. Shakily, he tries to lay the map out flat and scoot the pieces together so that he can see what remains of it. Much to his dismay, most of the surface was charred, making it almost impossible to read.
</p><p>“No,” he whispers. “No no no no no no no.” He puts his hands on the ground but rips them back up with a sharp intake of breath. “No no no no no no no,” he keeps repeating to himself quietly. He sits back, still staring at the map and muttering, tears starting to come to his eyes.
</p><p>“W...War?” Hyrule asks delicately, all the anger gone from his body. Warriors looks up at him, face white.
</p><p>“Why would you do this?!” Warriors suddenly shouts, standing up and moving towards Hyrule, who scrambles a few steps back. Twilight and Sky immediately grab hold of Warriors. “What the hell is wrong with you?! How could you so callously doom us?!”
</p><p>“What are you talking about?” Hyrule asks shakily.
</p><p>“You don’t know what’s around us! I had it all written down! Now we’re ruined!” He tries again to advance towards Hyrule, but Twilight and Sky force him backwards while Hyrule subconsciously steps behind Wild.
</p><p>“War! Pull yourself together!” Time says, standing between Warriors and Hyrule. “You need to control yourself.” Warriors glares angrily at him through gritted teeth, then whips around and drops to the ground again. He pulls his knees to his chest and hides his face in his arms. Time motions Twilight and Sky away, then sits down beside Warriors. 
</p><p>He puts a hand up as if to rest it on Warriors’ shoulder, but lowers it without doing so. “Take some deep breaths. Find your center. Clear your head.” Time’s voice is soft, soothing. He begins to hum a melody they all faintly recognize. Slowly, Warriors’ shaking begins to subside and his ragged breathing starts to steady. Time gently places a hand on Warriors’ shoulder and, after a moment, Warriors places his hand over it.
</p><p>Cautiously, Hyrule approaches and sits in front of Warriors, but out of arm's reach. “War?” he says quietly. Nothing. “I...I’m sorry. I can redraw it for you if you’d like. The whole thing. And I can add the stuff we’ve already seen, too.”
</p><p>“That would be helpful,” Warriors says quietly without looking up. “Don’t know if you saw what my notes were, though.” Wild turns and picks up Warriors’ dinner, then walks over and bravely sits down right beside him.
</p><p>“Here.” He holds out the water canteen first. “Drink something to steady yourself.”  Warriors finally lifts his head up and they can see where tears had run down his face. With a grimace, he accepts the water and takes a drink, then returns his head to his arms. “So...why were you so attached to a mostly blank map? It can’t have been all that useful.”
</p><p>“A map, any map, is helpful to me. I had lots of notes about the stuff we had passed and the terrain we were in as well as things that might be popping up as we were travelling like caves, defensible clearings, and potential sources of water. I also had notes on the kinds of wildlife we were seeing, the likeliness they would be good food, and different ideas for how we could defend ourselves in an ambush in this goddess forsaken woods,” Warriors replies apathetically, lifting his head again and resting his chin on his arm. “I even planned retreat routes.” Wild looks over at Time.
</p><p>“Son,” Time says gently, “I know we call you War, but you’re not in a war anymore.” Warriors laughs once, humourlessly, and looks up at the sky. He closes his eyes hard, a tear escaping despite his efforts, and he again hides his face behind his burned hands. The other Links glance around at each other, concern on all their faces.
</p><p>“You know, I fought two wars back to back,” Warriors says, putting his hands down and staring at the ground in front of Time. “Except I didn’t know at the time there would be two and I definitely didn’t expect them to be in quick succession.” He spares a glance up at Time, but returns to staring at the dirt with a peculiar expression on his face. “Zelda sent me out to bring some outlying troops back since Cia had been defeated. We were all overjoyed at our success and the journey was an easy one, one that I and many of my men had made many times over the course of our training years. The path was always the same and we went along it without even paying attention anymore.” His voice quivers and he pauses a second before continuing.
</p><p>“We were ambushed by Ghirahim, who was leading some of Ganondorf’s forces. We’d stopped to make camp for the night and they caught us at dinner. The war was over, we were celebrating, and everyone felt safe. A lot of men died trying to get their weapons from their tents and I was forced to abandon the camp in the interest of saving what lives I could. What men came with me were badly injured from trying to defend themselves unarmed. To top it all off, I had unknowingly led us into a ravine that the men were too injured to climb out of. If it weren’t for Impa and her troops happening upon us on their way back to Hyrule Castle, we would have all died down there. And it would have been entirely my fault because I didn’t know the land around us as well as I thought I did,” Warriors finishes bitterly.
</p><p>“War, I’m so sorry,” Hyrule says, “I had no idea. I thought it was just some weird habit.” Warriors waves off the apology.
</p><p>“Not entirely your fault. I didn’t exactly make things easier on myself either.”
</p><p>“I’ll redraw it all and add in everything I can remember about what’s between us and the town. Wild and I can do some scouting, too, so that we know what’s around the camp,” Hyrule says quickly.
</p><p>“I can put it on my slate,” Wild adds, holding up the Sheikah slate. “That will be much easier to make things to scale!”
</p><p>“That would be nice,” Warriors responds. He delicately takes hold of one end of his scarf and uses it to wipe his face off, grimacing as he does so.
</p><p>“Here, let me see your hands. I can heal them,” Hyrule says, scrambling forward and grabbing one of Warriors’ wrists. The other Links finally start to stir. They move about, quietly eating their dinners and reassigning the night’s watches. Once Hyrule is done healing Warriors’ hands, Wild once again offers Warriors his dinner, but Warriors again simply sets it down in front of him.
</p><p>“Soldiers normally eat in shifts so that there is always someone ready to defend the group,” Warriors informs him. “As a captain, I ate last so that I could protect my men first and foremost.” Wild quietly nods and starts eating his food rather slowly. The group talk quietly as they eat around the campfire, still unsure of themselves and mostly trying to avoid watching Warriors as he stares absently into the fire. Finally, after a few of them have finished eating, Warriors quietly picks up his plate and begins. The others start to fall back into their old habits almost immediately: Legend and Wind argue about who gets to sleep closer to the fire, Sky and Twilight lay on the ground trying to convince the other what the different constellations actually mean, and Time helps Wild clean up after dinner.
</p><p>“You best get to sleep,” Time tells Warriors when Warriors hands him the empty plate. “We’ll wake you for your watch.” Time pats Warriors lightly on the shoulder and Warriors nods. He goes over to his bedroll and lays down. Holding his scarf to his chest, he falls asleep almost immediately.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Second Breakfast</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The light of day gently pulls Warriors out of a blank sleep. He groans a little as he shields his eyes and looks around. Time is sitting against a tree nearby. Warriors frowns at him.
</p><p>“What about waking me up for my watch?”
</p><p>“Yeah that was a lie,” Time says, shrugging his shoulder. “We thought it best for you to sleep after all that.” Warriors nods slightly and pulls himself up, stretching the sleep out of his limbs.
</p><p>“Oh good! You’re awake!” Warriors turns and sees Wild bringing over a few plates of food. “It’s our turn to eat now.” He plops the food down between Warriors and Time, who moves over to sit beside Wild.
</p><p>“Our turn?” Warriors asks, sitting down as Hyrule runs over to join them.
</p><p>“Yes. We split into two groups and we are part of the group who eats last. We figured that would be an easy adjustment for you to make and it shouldn’t affect Wild’s cook time terribly much,” Time explains.
</p><p>“Oh. Well...thank you,” Warriors replies, caught off guard.
</p><p>“And that’s not the only surprise for you,” Hyrule says with a huge grin on his face. He practically shoves a parchment in Warriors’ face. “TA-DA!” Warriors takes the parchment and unfolds it. “It’s a map of this area! Wild and I went to the town and found a cartographer.”
</p><p>“AND!” Wild adds, holding his Sheikah slate in front of Warriors, “Rule and I put it on my slate and started drawing in the land around it. I even added in the details you had in some of your notes on the original map.”
</p><p>“But...that map burned,” Warriors says.
</p><p>“Yes, but!” Wild swipes through the slate a few times until he pulls up a picture of a sunset and holds it out triumphantly.
</p><p>“Uh...it’s…beautiful,” Warriors says.
</p><p>“No! Look here!” Wild points towards the bottom corner of the picture where Warriors’ and Hyrule’s backs can be seen with the original map stretched between them as they both point out over it. “I could make out some of your notes, so the ones that made sense I added to our map already.” A smile starts to play at Warriors’ lips and Wild and Hyrule exchange victorious glances. Suddenly, Warriors clears his throat and dons a sour expression.
</p><p>“Time, answer me this,” he says seriously. Wild’s and Hyrule’s smiles start to falter. “How did you get the short end of the stick and get stuck with these two clowns as your meal shift?”
</p><p>“Two? Don’t you mean three?” Time replies, calmly taking another bite. Wild and Hyrule burst out laughing while a grin crosses Warriors’ face.
</p><p>“I didn’t pin this as the fun meal group,” Legend says as he walks over. “Hurry up and finish eating. Twilight thinks we can move camp closer to the lake to make tomorrow’s trip shorter. We need to clean up.”
</p><p>“I think Twilight can wait a few more minutes,” Time answers, taking a slow, deliberate bite out of his food.
</p><p>“Aren’t you supposed to be the responsible one?” Legend asks.
</p><p>“I’m just an old man trying to enjoy his breakfast,” Time says, holding up his hands. Warriors, Wild, and Hyrule all laugh.
</p><p>“Yeah yeah. We’ll get started on our own then,” Legend says, turning around smartly and leaving. Time grins slightly at the three remaining Links.
</p><p>“All right then. Let’s hurry up and eat. Looks like we have a bit of a trek today.” The group quickly finishes their food and packs their bags.
</p><p>“We should be able to get to the lake by going this way,” Hyrule says, pointing off into the trees. “That’s this part here,” he adds to Warriors, pointing down at a spot on the map. “The town is over here at this square.” Warriors smiles gently at him.
</p><p>“Thanks. Lead on, then.” Hyrule smiles brightly and charges ahead, disappearing into the trees.
</p><p>“Good thing we have a map now,” Time says as he walks past Warriors. “We’ll need it to keep up with that boy.” He smiles at Warriors and keeps walking. Warriors delicately folds the map and tucks it into his belt before following Time and the sounds of Wild and Hyrule attempting to jump from tree to tree in a race to the lakeshore.</p>
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